965 



BEDLINGTON. 



BEEDER. 



Ecclesiastical Topography of Bedford,' published under the sanction 

 of the Archaeological Institute.) Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard, and 

 Luton churches are perhaps the best deserving of examination of any 

 in the county. 



It does not appear that there are any remains of baronial castles 

 in Bedfordshire, except the earth-works which mark their sites, and 

 which may be observed at Bedford, Eaton-Socon, and other places. 



Bedfordshire is the most purely agricultural county in England, 

 the proportional number of inhabitants engaged in manufactures and 

 trade being very small. Indeed it can hardly be said that the county 

 contains any persons engaged in manufactures ; the comparatively 

 few persons so employed might with equal propriety be included 

 among the class engaged in trade or handicraft, their employment 

 being chiefly either lace-making or straw-plaiting. In 1851 there 

 were five savings banks in the county, at Ampthill, Bedford, Biggies- 

 wade, Leighton Buzzard, and Luton. The amount owing to depositors 

 on the 20th of November, 1851, was 134.986/. 



l;KI>! 'XGTON. [DURHAM.] 



BEDLIS. [BETLIS.] 



BKDMiN'STER. [BRISTOL.] 



BEDNo'RE, a district situated on the summit of the range of 

 mountain'' called the Western Ghauts, in the north-west quarter of 

 the dominions of the raja of Mysore, and overlooking to the west the 

 provinces of Canara and Malabar. The range on the summit of which 

 Bednore is situated is elevated from 4000 to 5000 feet above the level 

 of the sea, and presents towards the west a very rapid slope, which 

 intercepts and breaks the clouds brought there by the western 

 monsoon. The climate is moist and the vegetation luxuriant. The 

 productions of the district of Bednore, which are raised in sufficient 

 abundance for exportation, are betel-nut, cardamoms, pepper, sandal- 

 wood ; a small breed of cattle is also reared. Betel-nut especially is 

 produced in large quantities. Bednore imports rice, salt, oil, and 

 cotton goods from the low country. The roads are wretched, and the 

 merchandise is mostly carried by men. 



Bednore district was conquered by Hyder AH in 1763, and remained 

 attached to the dominions of the raja of Mysore ; but the mode in 

 which that prince administered the Mysore government having about 

 the year 1833 led to an insurrection on the part of his subjects, the 

 HritNh government assumed the entire control of affairs, in terms 

 of a treaty formerly agreed to between the parties. 



(Rennell's Memoir; Buchanan's (Hamilton) Journey through Mysore ; 

 Parliamentary Papers ; East Indian Statistical Papers, 1853.) 



BEDNORE, the capital of the district just described, is situated 

 in 13 50' N. lat., 75 6' E. long., 452 miles S.S.E. from Bombay and 

 445 miles W. by N. from Madras. This town was originally called 

 Biderhully, signifying Bamboo Village; but when the seat of govern- 

 ment was removed hither from Ikery the name was altered to Bideruru, 

 or Bamboo Place. Previously to this event the place consisted of a 

 temple dedicated to Nilcunta (one of the titles of Siva) and a few 

 HMITI Minding houses, governed by a Brahmin chief. On becoming the 

 seat of the raja's government the chief part of the revenue of the 

 country was expended there, and Bideruru became a town of magni- 

 tude. Its situation U favourable for trade, the pass leading from 

 Mangalore through Bednore being one of the best roads in the Western 

 Ghauts. When attacked and taken by Hyder Ali in 1763 it is said to 

 have contained 20,000 good houses, besides meaner dwellings. The 

 ground on which it stands being very uneven the town was never 

 closely built, and it occupied an area the circumference of which was 

 eight miles. The place was defended by a circle of woods, hills, and 

 fortified defiles. Towards the centre stood the raja's palace, built on 

 a high hill, and surrounded by a citadel Hyder added some new 

 works, established an arsenal and a mint, encouraged trade and com- 

 merce, and endeavoured to introduce the rearing of the silk-worm. 



When the town was taken by Hyder Ali he found in it a conside- 

 rable amount of treasure. In 1783 Bednore was taken by the British 

 under General Matthews, but Tippoo re-conquered it in the following 

 year. The palace was rebuilt by Tippoo and the town was partly 

 restored, but the materials employed being only timber and mud 

 were ill fitted for such a rainy country. At the period of Tippoo's death 

 .vn contained about 1500 houses ; since that time additions have 

 been made to it. No manufactures are carried on, and trade, for 

 which it is well situated, is the chief support of the place. 



(Rennell's Memoir; Mill's British India; Wilks's History of the 

 South of India ; Buchanan's (Hamilton) Journey through Mysore.) 



BEDWKLTY, Monmouthshire, a parish and the seat of a Poor-Law 

 i in the hundred of Wentllooge. The village of Bedwelty is 

 situated in the western part of the county, in 51 41' N. lat., 3 11' 

 W. long. ; 30 miles W.S.W. from Monmouth, 16 miles N.W. from 

 Newport, and 164 miles W. by N. from London : the population of 

 the entire parish in 1851 was 27,183. The living is a perpetual 

 curacy in the archdeaconry of Monmouth and diocese of Llandaff. 

 Bedwelty Poor-Law Union contains two parishes, with an area of 

 26,924 acres, and a population in 1851 of 41,660. 



The parish of Bedwelty is of great extent, comprising an area of 

 15,440 acres, and stretching for several miles along the western 

 bordur of the county. In 1847 a new parish for ecclesiastical pur- 

 poses was formed out of a portion of Bedwelty parish, and parts of 

 the parishe* of Aberyatruth, Llangattock, and Llangynider. It is 



named Beaufort. Bedwelty is a great coal and iron district; and 

 most of the inhabitants are connected with the coal and iron works. 

 There are several railways for the conveyance of minerals. TREDEQAH, 

 a market-town, which has risen into considerable local importance of 

 late years, is in Bedwelty parish. 



(Coxe's History of Monmouthshire ; Cliffe's Boole of South Wales.) 



BEDWORTH, Warwickshire, a town in the parish of Bedworth 

 and the Kirby division of the hundred of Knightlow, is situated ni'iir 

 the line of the Coventry Canal, in 52 29' N. lat., 1 28' W. long. ; 

 distant 5 miles N. from Coventry, and 96 miles N.W. from London : 

 the population of the town in 1851 was 3012. The living is a rectory 

 in the archdeaconry of Coventry and diocese of Worcester. 



Bedworth is on the road from Coventry to Nuneaton, the chief 

 seats of the ribbon manufacture ; which manufacture employs many 

 of the population of the town. In the neighbourhood are coal pits, 

 and stone quarries, in which some of the inhabitants are employed. 

 Very few of the men are occupied in agricultural pursuits. 



BEDWYN, GREAT, Wiltshire, a borough and market-town in the 

 hundred of Kinwardstone. The town is situated in 51 25' N. lat., 

 1 35' W. long., 8 miles S.E. from Marlborough, and 69 miles W. by S. 

 from London by the Great Western railway to Huugerford, and 

 thence by Froxfield: the population of the parish in 1851 was 2193. 

 The borough is governed by a portreeve, bailiff, and constable, who 

 are annually elected by the lord of the manor. The living is a vicarage 

 in the archdeaconry of Wilts and diocese of Marlborough. 



Great Bedwyn was a place of note in the Anglo-Saxon period when 

 the strong earth- work about a mile north of the present town, called 

 Chisbury Camp, was the seat of the viceroyalty of Wilts and Berks, 

 and is supposed to have been formed by Cissa, who then held the 

 government of those provinces under the king of Wessex. A fierce 

 and undecided battle between Wulfhere, king of Mercia, and Escuin, 

 king of Wessex, was fought near this spot in 674. On the south of 

 Bedwyn was a Roman villa, the remains of which in abundance of 

 tesserae, bricks, &c., are frequently found in a wood called Castle Copse, 

 where about 60 years ago were discovered an entire tesselated pavement 

 and a huge leaden cistern, adjoining to what was supposed to be foun- 

 dations of baths. The borough sent members to Parliament from the 

 23rd of Edward I., but was disfranchised by the Reform Act. 



The town consists principally of two streets crossing each other at 

 right angles. There is an ancient market-house ; the market is held 

 on Tuesday. A fair is held on the 26th of July for toys, &e. The 

 parish was formerly very large, co-extensive with the prebend founded 

 in Salisbury Cathedral, and contained 14,098 acres ; but in 1405 the 

 parish of Little Bedwyn was formed out of it and endowed from the 

 prebend, then held by an ecclesiastic, but shortly afterwards dissolved 

 and its proceeds given to the first Duke of Somerset. The parish 

 now contains 10,420 acres, and besides the town has twelve hamlets 

 scattered over the area. Seven of these lying at the southern extre- 

 mity of the parish were in 1844 formed into a district for ecclesiastical 

 purposes ; and a handsome church has been erected at East Grafton : 

 the population of East Grafton district in 1851 was 1046. The old 

 church, dedicated to St. Mary, is cruciform, with a fine square tower 

 rising from the intersection, and containing an excellent peal of bellb. 

 The nave is the oldest portion of the building, and is of the semi- 

 Norman style of the reign of Richard I. ; but its aisles and clerestory 

 are of the time of Henry VII. The well-developed chancel is a fine 

 example of very plain decorated work, erected about the end of the 

 reign of Edward I., and the transepts built not more than four or 

 five years later, between 1306 and 1312, are handsome specimens of 

 the same style. The whole building is constructed of flint with free- 

 stone dressings, piers, and arches. In the south end of the transept 

 are two recesses, one containing the figure of a cross-legged knight 

 representing Sir Adam de Stock, who died in 1312, and is supposed 

 to have been the founder of the transept ; the other containing a 

 Purbeck slab with the indent of a brass cross and a legend to the 

 memory of Sir Adam's son, Sir Roger de Stock, who died in 1333. 

 In the chancel is a figure in armour resting on an altar tomb, repre- 

 senting Sir John Seymour, father of Queen Jane Seymour, and of 

 Edward, first duke of Somerset of that family. Another monument 

 of marble is to the memory of William, the second duke, and of 

 Frances Devereux, his second duchess. William, the third duke, and 

 Francis, the fifth, with many other members of this family, also lie 

 in the chancel. There are two large schools ; one at Bedwyn, built in 

 1835 for 200 scholars, and one at East Graftou built in 1846 for an 

 equal number. There are also a small charity school endowed for 

 the free education" of 10 scholars, and two private day-schools, in 

 which are instructed from 20 to 30 pupils of both sexes. At Wilton, 

 one of the hamlets, is a meeting-house for Wesleyan Methodists. 

 Tottenham Park, the noble seat of the Marquis of Ailesbury is in 

 this parish, where also there is a private chapel in the house which 

 contains 70 sittings, and a school for 30 children beautifully situated 

 in the grounds. 



(Correspondent at Great Bedwyn.) 



BEEDER, a considerable province of Hindustan, forming part 

 of the dominions of the Nizam, and lying between 17 ami :'<>' 

 N. lat. It is bounded W. by Bejapore and Aurungabad ; N. by 

 Aurungabad and Berar ; E. by Gundwana and Hyderabad ; and 

 S. by Hyderabad. 



